Moisture origins of the Amazon carbon source region
The southeastern Amazon has recently been shown to be a net carbon source, which is partly caused by drying conditions. Drying depends on a number of factors, one of which is the land cover at the locations where the moisture has originated as evaporation. Here we assess for the first time the origi...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2023-01-01
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| Series: | Environmental Research Letters |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/acc676 |
| _version_ | 1797747410990006272 |
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| author | Arie Staal Gerbrand Koren Graciela Tejada Luciana V Gatti |
| author_facet | Arie Staal Gerbrand Koren Graciela Tejada Luciana V Gatti |
| author_sort | Arie Staal |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The southeastern Amazon has recently been shown to be a net carbon source, which is partly caused by drying conditions. Drying depends on a number of factors, one of which is the land cover at the locations where the moisture has originated as evaporation. Here we assess for the first time the origins of the moisture that precipitates in the Amazon carbon source region, using output from a Lagrangian atmospheric moisture tracking model. We relate vegetation productivity in the Amazon carbon source region to precipitation patterns and derive land-cover data at the moisture origins of these areas, allowing us to estimate how the carbon cycle and hydrological cycle are linked in this critical part of the Amazon. We find that, annually, 13% of the precipitation in the Amazon carbon source region has evaporated from that same area, which is half of its land-derived moisture. We further find a moisture-recycling-mediated increase in gross primary productivity of roughly 41 Mg carbon km ^−2 yr ^−1 within the Amazon carbon source region if it is fully forested compared to any other land cover. Our results indicate that the parts of the Amazon forest that are already a net carbon source, still help sustain their own biomass production. Although the most degraded parts of the Amazon depend mostly on oceanic input of moisture, further degradation of this region would amplify carbon losses to the atmosphere. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T15:50:09Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-aea0810bb80844daa69e35dd4bbbf389 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1748-9326 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T15:50:09Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environmental Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj.art-aea0810bb80844daa69e35dd4bbbf3892023-08-09T15:15:36ZengIOP PublishingEnvironmental Research Letters1748-93262023-01-0118404402710.1088/1748-9326/acc676Moisture origins of the Amazon carbon source regionArie Staal0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5409-1436Gerbrand Koren1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2275-0713Graciela Tejada2Luciana V Gatti3Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University , Utrecht, The NetherlandsCopernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University , Utrecht, The NetherlandsGeneral Coordination of Earth Science (CGCT), National Institute for Space Research (INPE) , São José dos Campos, BrazilGeneral Coordination of Earth Science (CGCT), National Institute for Space Research (INPE) , São José dos Campos, Brazil; Nuclear and Energy Research Institute (IPEN) , São Paulo, BrazilThe southeastern Amazon has recently been shown to be a net carbon source, which is partly caused by drying conditions. Drying depends on a number of factors, one of which is the land cover at the locations where the moisture has originated as evaporation. Here we assess for the first time the origins of the moisture that precipitates in the Amazon carbon source region, using output from a Lagrangian atmospheric moisture tracking model. We relate vegetation productivity in the Amazon carbon source region to precipitation patterns and derive land-cover data at the moisture origins of these areas, allowing us to estimate how the carbon cycle and hydrological cycle are linked in this critical part of the Amazon. We find that, annually, 13% of the precipitation in the Amazon carbon source region has evaporated from that same area, which is half of its land-derived moisture. We further find a moisture-recycling-mediated increase in gross primary productivity of roughly 41 Mg carbon km ^−2 yr ^−1 within the Amazon carbon source region if it is fully forested compared to any other land cover. Our results indicate that the parts of the Amazon forest that are already a net carbon source, still help sustain their own biomass production. Although the most degraded parts of the Amazon depend mostly on oceanic input of moisture, further degradation of this region would amplify carbon losses to the atmosphere.https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/acc676climate changecarbon sinkatmospheric moisture recyclingtropics |
| spellingShingle | Arie Staal Gerbrand Koren Graciela Tejada Luciana V Gatti Moisture origins of the Amazon carbon source region Environmental Research Letters climate change carbon sink atmospheric moisture recycling tropics |
| title | Moisture origins of the Amazon carbon source region |
| title_full | Moisture origins of the Amazon carbon source region |
| title_fullStr | Moisture origins of the Amazon carbon source region |
| title_full_unstemmed | Moisture origins of the Amazon carbon source region |
| title_short | Moisture origins of the Amazon carbon source region |
| title_sort | moisture origins of the amazon carbon source region |
| topic | climate change carbon sink atmospheric moisture recycling tropics |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/acc676 |
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